ART UNBOUND EPISODE 33 TRANSCRIPT DJ AMBUSH This is Art Unbound, the official podcast for the Portland Art Museum and Northwest Film Center. My name is DJ Ambush and I’m the Operations and Content Manager at 96.7 The Numberz FM, a community-based radio station here in Portland with the focus on representing Black music and culture. Back in the Fall 2019, we partner with the Portland Art Museum for their exhibition, Hank Willis Thomas: All Things Being Equal. We set up live broadcasts in the galleries and knew right away that this was a solid partnership. When the pandemic hit last March, the Numberz and the Art Museum applied for grant together from the Regional Arts and Culture Council. And thanks to the funding provided by that grant, we were able to work together again, pooling our resources. This episode you’re about to hear as a result of our partnership coming to life in the Portland Art Museum galleries. I sat down to interview and completely nerd out with Portland-based cultural phenom Kenny Fresh, who runs a record label called Fresh Selects. Links to everything Kenny and I talk about can be found in this episode’s description, as well as at portlandartmuseum. org/podcast, where you can also find a full episode transcript. How are you today, sir? KENNY FRESH I’m good. Today, I’m good. DJ AMBUSH Okay. KENNY FRESH It’s been a crazy year to say the least. But yeah, today I’m good. DJ AMBUSH Yeah. Right. KENNY FRESH This is just part of our reality now. DJ AMBUSH Right. KENNY FRESH So. So today, I’m good. DJ AMBUSH Okay. So before I ask how any of this has affected what it is that you do, tell the people what it is that you do. KENNY FRESH Yes. So that question used to be hard for me to answer, because I had years while I was still figuring it out. But now it’s very concrete. I run a record label. DJ AMBUSH nice KENNY FRESH I own and run a record label, I put out records, I put out music. All of this craziness going on really hasn’t affected- I’ve been very fortunate. It hasn’t affected what I do specifically and personally all that much. Compared to, you know, someone like yourself, who’s more of a- or, you know, doing live DJ events. DJ AMBUSH Yeah KENNY FRESH You know, my business, my label Fresh Selects, was never very event oriented, or our artists aren’t dependent on touring or, you know, some labels, especially like rock labels, will not put out an album unless the artist can tour around it. Because that’s just part of, you know, their campaign, their model. DJ AMBUSH Right KENNY FRESH I’ve always been a- not an internet label, but my music, my relationship with music, a lot of it has been through online. So, you know, a lot of that hasn’t changed for me. DJ AMBUSH So explain that. Because just, you know, the traditional record label model, touring would be your responsibility, you know, some of the more outward facing things, in-stores, things that are directly being affected by COVID would be your responsibility, how- what’s the model that you’re operating under, where that doesn’t directly affect your bottom line? KENNY FRESH Yes, so so Fresh Selects started as a music blog back in 2008. And at first I was just kind of reporting on artists that had, you know, it was kind of the era whereas before streaming, it’s kind of the iTunes era where people would put out like the first single for free or they put out a mixtape for free in hopes that you would buy the album on iTunes. DJ AMBUSH Ye s . KENNY FRESH So a lot of my posts at the time were just like, here’s the free single from so-and-so, here’s the free mixtape, and then linking to it. And then as I kind of started to get an audience and I knew some artists already, I would get like exclusives where they would let me premiere the single or premiere the mixtape, DJ AMBUSH Okay KENNY FRESH And then I started to create original, you know, mixtapes with artists or kind of help an artist finish a project or connect them to a designer if they needed artwork for it or things like that. So that- so the label grew from that. So just like then I would just release something for free on the website. Now, I’m releasing it on Spotify and you know, Apple Music, and iTunes and all these things, and Bandcamp and a lot of the audience that I’ve built up is through you know, online music fans. So you know, we press physical copies, not always, but our kind of you know, vinyl is really expensive so our artists or our projects that kind of warranted or a lot of times we’ll put out an album and then the response will be so good that I’m like okay, we could do vinyl and we won’t you know lose $3,000 on it. DJ AMBUSH So with regard to physicals, are you also doing cassettes? KENNY FRESH Yeah, I started doing cassettes because that’s all I could afford. I started the label just you know, on a credit card, and really, I always wanted to start a label, but I just didn’t think I could, it just seemed like something you needed to, you know, be born with money or sell drugs to make money, like that’s most of the record labels, you know, like Raucous Records came from, you know, a kid whose dad was like the CEO of Fox News. Then you have like, Death Row where they got their money, however they got their money, right. There’s always like one or two ways to start a label. And I didn’t have- neither of those were the route for me or an option for me. So I just didn’t think you know, just seemed like a pipe dream. But then when Bandcamp came around, I started to realize that it’s actually really affordable to start a label and to put out physical releases. And I have friends who were putting out cassettes just that they would dub themselves. And then I looked into the cost of actually manufacturing cassettes, it was only a few hundred dollars. So I was like okay, I could put that much on a credit card, and you know, get it started. So that’s really when it clicked for me. And when I started the labels the second I realized that I could. Yeah, so a lot of the the label is mostly a digital presence. DJ AMBUSH Okay, distribution. KENNY FRESH We don’t have an office, we don’t have an event series. You know, it’s really like, yeah, it’s a it’s an online thing, for the most part. Of all the platforms, we named a couple just now. And I know from a consumer standpoint, I mess with Tidal heavy because they give the biggest payout to artists. From a consulting standpoint, do you have a preference? I personally use both Spotify and Apple Music. Spotify I think is best for discovery. Their playlists are really crucial for that. And that has become a big part of releasing music, is trying to get on those playlists, doing everything you can to put yourself in a position where you’re likely to get chosen for those. Apple Music is solid, it’s just easier for a lot of people to use on their phone. So it’s kind of access. But Apple Music, for the most part, I feel like people are listening to stuff that they already know. DJ AMBUSH Yeah KENNY FRESH Where Spotify, I think they’re finding out a lot of new music. And that’s really been an exciting change. And it’s been really interesting seeing the effect that Spotify has had on music and how it’s released both in good and bad ways. Because there’s a lot of people especially like, lo fi, hip hop or like beat tapes, those playlists do really well. But it’s a lot of passive listening, where people just put it on and they’re doing homework or whatever. DJ AMBUSH Yeah. KENNY FRESH So there’s artists DJ AMBUSH Beats to study to KENNY FRESH Yeah, exactly. And there’s even- there’s a few artists from here in Portland that have songs that have millions of plays, and they have very little fans or name recognition, you know, but there’s good money in that. But you know, they can’t really play shows or put out an album necessarily. And it’s just kind of like, if they’re not on those playlists, they’re not really connecting. So that’s, you know, one of the downsides of it, but there’s a lot of benefits to it, too. But for- I mean, as far as the most advantageous for the label, and if I could choose one platform to make it bigger and make it the norm, it would definitely be Bandcamp. DJ AMBUSH Okay. KENNY FRESH Because Bandcamp by far offers the best split. They’re not a streaming site.